Hi sorry for the little wait I got a bit stumped. Hope people are still interested. There's a tiny smidgen of JJ/Hotch (sorry to non shippers) as advertised but like in other chapter's it isn't a huge amount. Let me know what you think in a review please.
Rossi glared at the man in front of him. While Gideon might have been close to Reid during his stint in the BAU Dave was extremely close and protective towards Hotch. It stemmed from his time during his first period in the unit. Their bond continued during his retirement, their friendship survived his second time as a field agent and now after his actual retirement from the BAU they were still close. The first time he met the man he realized that despite his dry sense of humour and his professionalism he was one of the good guys who would continue the legacy of the BAU, his excellent profiling abilities was just a bonus. Hotch told him things straight, if he was being a jerk, Hotch was the one who would take him aside and tell him, when Dave first came back to the unit Hotch was the one who made him get involved and become part of the family. That is what Hotch was to him, family. Hotch's family became his own and the awful time that surrounded Hailey's death was horrible. There's no other ways to explain it. For Aaron Hotchner his ex wife's death was the most traumatic time of his life and now the man the who was once consider a friend of Hotch's was asking how he had been since the tragic events.
Gideon didn't know the pain that Hotch went through when Hailey filed for divorce and took Jack. Only for a few months after aguishly telling his son he wouldn't be around as much he was blown up in New York which led to weeks of hearing loss. The former profiler opposite him had no idea the excruciating injuries Hotch suffered by the stabbing Foyet was responsible for. Gideon didn't know of the weeks of concern the entire team went through when Hotch was unresponsive and almost negligence of his emotions when Hailey and Jack went into protective custody. He didn't know how much the team had worried that he was going to become dead inside after he found his ex lying on the floor of his former bedroom covered in her own blood mutilated by the hands of Foyet. None of them were sure how or if Hotch was ever to come back from killing a man with his bare hands. Then came the times when Hotch needed the team the most after the harrowing events. They had all helped with Jack even Rossi himself had spent the odd afternoon watching over the little boy and he was a self confessed anti child man. When Hotch needed to talk to someone, any of the team would have been there to listen. When his position as unit chief was questioned the team were there to fully support their boss.
No. Gideon didn't know or understand any of it. All because he didn't want to impose on the difficult times his supposed friend was going through. Rossi returned to answering his question. Rather smarmily he spoke.
"He's been peachy, really the last seven years has been a ball of laughs for him. Apparently the stoic looks and no sense of humour was a decoy from his alter ego Captain Funny. The 10am briefing's were like a comedy stand up gig when Hotch took the remote. "
"Dave I don't want to drag up any painful memories I just.."
"Really you want to drag up any painful memories? Then what the hell are we doing here Jason cos I don't remember the last time we had a heart to heart over coffee."
"I just...."
Dave took a deep breath looking at the pathetic shell of a man sitting in front of him. He rolled his eyes not knowing if he wanted to continue talking about his close friend. Rossi had become an adopted grandparent for Jack and over the last few years he had spent festive seasons with the Hotchner boys as well as most of the team.
"The loss of Hailey was soul destroying for Hotch. He blamed himself for not being able to save her. The guilt has only recently diminished somewhat. The team has had a difficult time of getting through to him, but you remember what he's like, stiff collar and ever the professional that's never changed."
"He always has his tie fastened too tightly I always used to joke about that with him."
They stared at each other another standoff was taking place and Dave was losing his patience.
"Hotch was seriously affected by you leaving like how you did. He was upset that you never explained to him your reasons. But you have no idea how you're leaving helped him become an even better leader than he already was."
Gideon smiled sadly knowing that Hotch was an excellent leader and thankful that he remained that after his departure.
"Hotch spent the year after Hailey's death trying to make things work for him and Jack. He never actually dealt with the trauma as he should of. Cases that should have affected him were brushed off as just another one and life continued as normal as it could. After a while though, it caught up with him. When Jack first started asking things about his mom and when Hailey's sister began to question Hotch's parenting abilities and he lost it. I mean as far as Jack was concerned as well as mostly everyone else thought he was doing good, keeping it together and being his usual self but he wasn't. It was like he was walking around in a daze and the scotch was the only way to dull the ache he was feeling. I tried to get through to him to get him talk to someone about it all but he didn't want to hear it. He thought he was handling it."
"So what happened?"
Rossi sighed, gesturing with his hands "To be honest I've got no idea. We were working a local case involving a string of murdered kids. He was agitated the whole time and it ended with him yelling at JJ when she challenged his approach to dealing with the parents. She took him aside said something to him and the next thing we all know he's taking a vacation with Jack and he started going to talk regularly to a therapist when he came back."
"So just like that he changed?"
"God no, he was still his usual stoic self he just started to deal with things better. He even lost the tie for a while."
Gideon smirked at the reference to his previous statement. Gideon was about to ask what Hotch was up to now he wasn't the BAU's unit chief when Dave's phone rang. Rossi excused himself and left Gideon sitting in the booth alone. Something he was getting used to these days. Part of him wanted to do nothing more than ignore Rossi's earlier comment about re entering the team's lives but another part knew that by simply coming here and talking to Dave was the wrong thing to do. He should have left his past where it belonged, in the past. He left for a reason. He didn't want that life anymore where death stains every part of every day. But by the sounds of it the team had been through one hell of a bad time and had stood by each other whereas he had given up on them. Now he didn't deserve to be involved in their lives even if he wanted to be because he walked out on them and in doing so he had strengthened their relationships with each other. He hadn't ruined them, like some small narcissistic part of him wished he had because he thought he had been someone they had relied on when in fact he was someone they had to endure when he took centre stage.
Rossi returned apologetically "Sorry that was Anna reminding me to pick up a bottle of wine on the way home."
"No problem, I don't want to keep you too long if you have to be home."
"Nah its fine Anna's in the kitchen and I can't be around her when she's got a knife in her hand. I'm like a back seat driver in the kitchen and it always ends in an argument so as long as I don't forget the red wine, there should be no conflicts tonight."
Gideon smiled politely silently jealous of the happy life the older man had. "So what is Hotch doing now? Is he still in the Bureau?"
Rossi hung his head down staring at the empty plate in front of him regretting not leaving when Gideon gave him an opening. It wasn't that he minded being the storyteller of the little gathering it was just he felt uncomfortable detailing his family's life to someone they probably wouldn't be too enthused about him telling.
"He is. He was offered Strauss' position as section chief when she moved on to greener pastures last year. He's doing a great job but misses the field much to the annoyance of JJ"
"Why would it annoy JJ?"
Dave laughed "Hotch and JJ have become closer over the last few years. When we all saw what was there between them we took wagers on how long it would take Hotch and JJ to come to their senses about each other. It's still early days but it's going good."
"Is that why JJ was the first to leave the team?"
Forgot to say thanks for all the previous reviews and story alerts. There isn't much longer to go for this fic unfortunately, so if you have any opinions on how Rossi and Gideon's conversation should end let me know. Should it be conflictive, sad, happy, open ended etc? Up next is JJ.....obviously!
